Aelum is at an inflection point. We are scaling rapidly and need a seasoned HR leader who has walked this road before - someone who has taken an organisation from 250 to 1,000+ people and knows exactly what breaks, what to build, and when.

This is not a transactional HR role. You will report directly to the CEO and sit on the leadership team, owning the full people agenda : culture, talent strategy, compliance, and organisational design. You will bring structure to ambiguity, accountability to people processes, and build a function that can sustain aggressive growth without losing our core identity.

What You'll Own :

Culture & Organisational Identity :

- Define, codify, and operationalise Aelum's culture and values across all levels

- Build rituals, recognition systems, and communication structures that reinforce culture at scale

- Partner with the CEO to ensure culture remains a competitive advantage, not just a talking point

Talent Acquisition & Strategic Hiring :

- Build and lead a high-performing recruitment function capable of hiring at volume without compromising quality

- Design structured hiring processes, scorecards, and interview frameworks for leadership and critical roles

- Own executive search strategy for senior and C-suite hires in partnership with the CEO

- Reduce time-to-hire and improve offer acceptance rates through employer branding and candidate experience

Retention & Attrition Management :

- Conduct deep-dive analysis on resignation patterns and root causes

- Design and implement retention frameworks : career ladders, compensation benchmarking, performance incentives, and stay interviews

- Establish early warning indicators for at-risk employees and proactive intervention processes

Employee Relations, Discipline & Compliance :

- Build a robust Employee Relations function to manage disciplinary processes, performance improvement plans (PIPs), and conflict resolution with fairness and legal rigour

- Ensure all employment agreements, NDAs, and contracts are compliant, consistently enforced, and regularly reviewed

- Manage any existing or future agreement breach cases in partnership with legal counsel

- Develop HR policies, handbooks, and governance frameworks that are clear, fair, and enforceable

People Operations & Process Design :

- Audit and redesign core HR processes : onboarding, offboarding, performance reviews, compensation cycles, and promotions

- Implement or optimise an HRIS (HR Information System) fit for a scaling organisation

- Define HR metrics and dashboards to give leadership real-time visibility into people health

Leadership & Team Building :

- Build, hire, and mentor an internal HR team as Aelum grows

- Coach and upskill line managers on people management, feedback, and accountability

- Act as a trusted advisor to the CEO and leadership team on all people matters

What We're Looking For :

Must-Have Experience :

- 8 - 10 years of progressive HR experience, with at least 3-5 years in a senior HR leadership role

- Demonstrated experience scaling an organisation from ~250 to 1,000+ employees, ideally in a high-growth or tech-adjacent environment

- Deep hands-on expertise in employee relations, disciplinary processes, and employment law

- Proven track record managing contract compliance, agreement breaches, and sensitive HR investigations

- Strong background in talent acquisition strategy, not just oversight - someone who has rebuilt broken hiring functions

- Experience designing and implementing retention programmes that demonstrably reduced attrition

The Person We Need :

- Commercially minded - you connect people decisions to business outcomes

- Direct and courageous - you will have difficult conversations with senior leaders when needed

- Systems thinker - you build processes that outlast your personal involvement

- Empathetic but structured - you care deeply about people while enforcing clear accountability

- Calm under pressure - you have managed crises, investigations, and transitions without losing composure

Nice to Have :

- Experience in a founder-led or PE/VC-backed environment

- Exposure to multi-country or remote-first workforce management

- Prior involvement in an organisational restructure or workforce transformation

What Success Looks Like in Year One :

Priority Outcome :

- Attrition - Measurable reduction in voluntary resignations within 6 months

- Hiring - Structured, scalable recruitment process live across all functions

- Compliance - Full audit and remediation of all employment agreements and HR policies

- Culture - Aelum values defined, communicated, and embedded in core people processes

- ER Framework - Clear disciplinary and performance management frameworks in place

- HR Team - Core HR team hired and operational

Compensation & Benefits :

- Competitive senior leadership salary benchmarked to market

- Performance-based bonus

- Equity / long-term incentive plan (details discussed at offer stage)

- Direct access and influence at the CEO and Board level

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